Your eLetter will usually reach your sponsored child between two to six months after you’ve sent it. There are many reasons why it can take a while to get there.

Sponsored children often live in some of the world’s poorest communities, so internet and postal services may not be as fast or reliable as we are used to.

Once your eLetter is sent, it embarks on quite a journey. It is received and logged by a World Vision office in your sponsored child’s country. The eLetter is then printed, translated (if necessary) and delivered to your sponsored child. This could be in person, by motorbike, bicycle, boat, truck or even donkey!

In most cases your sponsored child will reply. Their hand-written response will be given to the local World Vision office then sent to you.

While World Vision staff do their best to deliver all eLetters and replies, due to local conditions we can’t guarantee that all mail will be received.

Absolutely! Your photos will be printed for your sponsored child and presented to them along with your eLetter.

These photos are often cherished by sponsored children.

We encourage you to send photos of yourself with friends and family. However please be mindful that the way people are dressed in the photos or what is featured in the background of the photos would not cause offence to people of different cultures or who live in poor communities.

A simple guideline is to avoid photos featuring people in swimwear and revealing clothing or with objects and possessions that might increase the perceptions of difference between you and your sponsored child.

If your sponsored child is too young to read or write you should still send an eLetter. A family member, teacher or even a World Vision staff member can help them understand and respond to your eLetter.

World Vision has a duty of care to all sponsored children. Therefore our policy is to read all eLetters to ensure no inappropriate, misleading or offensive content is included. 

World Vision will only edit out content that we deem inappropriate.

Examples of inappropriate content include:

• Providing your contact details
• Promises that you will visit them or give them gifts
• Culturally sensitive material
• Content which is overtly religious for the sponsored child’s context. Most sponsored children and their families/caregivers have a religious belief and we seek at all times to respect this.
• Content which is overtly political

Every eLetter has to go through a process of being checked, recorded, translated (where necessary), printed and hand-delivered to your sponsored child. This can take a long time and involves numerous people before your sponsored child’s hand-written response makes its way back to you via the translators and postal service. Due to pressure on staff and resources, eLetter correspondence must be moderated.

Only World Vision staff in Australia and your sponsored child’s country can access eLetters through a secure login.

You can access your eLetters at any time through My World Vision.

If you attach photos to your eLetter they are deleted from our system after six weeks.

Our Supporter Services Team is happy to help. Please call us on 13 32 40 (local call costs apply) or send us a message.